Improved apparatus for treating and ageing spirituous liquors



AQU-

N'. PETERS. PHOTOAUTHDGRAPNER. WASHINGTON. n, C.

initrd glatte sind @ritira GEORGE GOEWEY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 91,840,6latefl Jzm'e 29, 1869.

IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TREATING- AND AG-EING- SPIRITUOUS LIQURS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

More- To all whom fit may concern:

f Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of said apparatus, on the line x y of iig. 2;

Figure 2, a perspective view of Ysaid apparatus; and

Figure 3, a top view of the same, the tops of the several close pans or vessels employed being removed, to disclose the interior structure of such vessels'.

My process consist-s in forcing the liquor into thorough and intimate contzfct with atmospheric air, by causing a stream of the liquor, heated to a temperature of from 1150 to 1650 Fahrenheit, to come into confluence with a forced stream of air,`the latter being, preferably, at a temperature not exceedinglOOO Fahrenheit, the mixed stream of liquor and air being, together, forced into a iinely-perfbrated cylinder, or other vessel, and through the" pertbrations thereof, in the form of spray or vapor, into a proper receiver.

Referring to the drawingsa al c2 c3 a* represent shallow pans or vessels, closed, except as to apertures hereinafter described, and arranged in a descending series, as shown, so that the liquors shall tend to pass, by gravity, from the pana into the air-pipe leading into the pan a, thence to the air-pipe leading into pan a, and so on,to the last pani in the series.

These pans may rest ou masonry, b, which encloses anv ordinary furnace, o, and a passage-way, d, under said pans, for the'gaseous products of combustion, which arise from the furnace-tire, `and escape through an aperture, e, by a pipe, or other sucient means, into a chimney.

An open pan, f, containing water, is located in the furnace, over the lire, and between it and the bottom of pan a, to partiallyscreeu the latter from the direct influence of the fire. l,

g is a fan-blower. 1 his a box or conduit, into -which air is forced by the blower g. l

i. fi t2 t3 are pipes, each of about one and a-half inch bore, which extend from the air-box h into and across the pans a ai a3 as shown in figs. 2 and 3.

jj j'l j, figsf2 and 3, are pipes,"each of about half an inch bore, to convey the liquor from pan a into pipe Ii, from pan al into pipe t, and so ou, to the end of the series, as shown. l`

These pipes, i, Ste., sb far as tfrey are enclosed by the pans, are finely perforated, asshowu in fig. 3, the

perforations being made from within outwardly.`

7tk k2 k la* are ordinary gauges, to indicate the height of the liquor in vessels a alg Sac.

mis au aperture, which should be provided with a stop-cock, through which the vessel a is charged with the liquor to be treated.

n u* ai ai are apertures in the pans al a a w, respectively, furthe escape of the gases and vapors which arise from the liquor in said pans.

rIhe apertures n nl, 815e., respectively, are provided with stop-cocks, and connect-ed, by proper pipes, with a condensing-worm, not shown, iu the passage of the l vapors through which, any spirits which arise from the pans c cl, Sto., are condensed, and thus saved.

The pans au' a2 a have projections, 1J p p2 p, respectively, which partially screen said pans from the dir'ect influence of the furnace-fire.

q q q" q3 are stop-cocks, bywhich the pans are completely drained, when desired.

r fr r2 fr are stop-cocks in pipes ti) t t, vand s s s2 s3 are stop-cocks in pipes jj l j2 ja.

The process is applied as follows, viz:

The pan a is charged with liquor, through the aperture lm, which is then closed. A gentle fire is started in the furnace, the vessel f being supplied with water. rPhe charge of liquor is kept in pan a, until the liquor reaches a temperature of from 115o to 165 Fahrenheit. Ihe fau-blower being then put in motion, and the stop-cock s opened, the liquor is allowed to iiow from pan a into the air-pipe @,and is drawn andforced 'With the air, by means of the strong currentfrom the blower, through the tine perforations of the pipe t into the pan a. thorough and` intimate contact. When sulicient of the contents of pana have thus passed into pan a1 to fill it about three parts full,the stop-cock s is opened, and the liquor allowed to flow into the air-pipe i, and is forced and drawn with the air, by means of the strong current from the blower, through the ne perfor-ations of the pipe t" into the pau a2. Ihe stop-cock s'z being then' opened, the liquor is allowed to pass, in a similar manner, from the pan a? into the pan a, and so, to the-last pan of the series, when the liquor is drawn off and barrelled for use.

I prefer that the charge of liquor should be about twenty hours in passing through the apparatus.

Instead of heating the liquor, and introducing into it air, at a lower temperature, as described, this part of the process may be reversed, the air being heated to a temperature of from 115o to 1650 Fahrenheit, and the liquor brought to a temperature of from 50 to l0()o Fahrenheit, the method of treatment being, in other respects, similar to that rst described.

It is obvious that this process of purifying liquors could be carried on without more pans thanA the two marked c and al, the liquor being returned from the pan a into the pan c, and the operation repeated the desired number of times.

'Ihe pans and pipes are made of copper, and the pansinay be of any desired number and size; but I prefer to use five pans, and to make. them of capacity The liquor' and air are thus brought into.

to hold about ve barrels each, or about six feet long,

tive feet wide, and ten inches high.

Liquors treated in the manner described, have, at the end ofthe operation, the softness and mellowness of' ordinary liquors several years of age.

.Having thus described my invention,

I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The process of bringing` alcoholic liquors into thorough and intimate contact with atmospheric nir, by causing the liquors, at a temperature of from 115o to 165O Fahrenheit7 to come into conuence with a forced current of air, at a temperature not exceeding 100O Fahrenheit; or, vice versa, by causing the liquors, at a temperature not exceeding 100o Fahrenheit, to come into confluence with a forced current of air, at a Witnesses:

GEORGE E. BUCKLEY, Y WM. ALBT. ALEX. MCKINLEY. 

